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In The News
Georgians for a Healthy Future is frequently cited in news articles about health care issues, ensuring the consumer perspective is heard. Read news stories featuring Georgians for a Healthy Future’s perspective below.
2021
“The Kemp waiver plan, as outlined now, is much less ambitious. It would cost $75 million for the first year, and cover just 31,000 low-income adults, according to the consumer advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future. A standard expansion would give Medicaid eligibility to 480,000 to 600,000 people in the state, said Laura Colbert, the group’s executive director.”
The Kemp waiver plan, as outlined now, is much less ambitious. It would cost $75 million for the first year, and cover just 31,000 low-income adults, according to the consumer advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future. A standard expansion would give Medicaid eligibility to 480,000 to 600,000 people in the state, said Laura Colbert, the group’s executive director.
“Medicaid expansion has always been the moral and cost-effective choice for Georgia,’’ she said. The new incentive package, she said, “just amplifies that choice.’’
Pending approval from the federal government, the automatic enrollment would allow an estimated 60,000 Medicaid-eligible children who receive food stamps to also join the joint state-federal health program, according to the nonprofit advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future.
“Medical debt burdens Georgians significantly, stemming in part from the state’s large uninsured population,” Laura Colbert, executive director of Georgians for a Healthy Future, said. “Southwest Georgia, in particular, has some of the highest health costs in the country due primarily to the lack of competition among providers and insurers.”
Laura Colbert of the consumer advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future said the recent enrollees could include people who lost jobs and those who didn’t know about the fall enrollment period.
“A lot of people may not know that they were eligible for subsidies,” she added.
If Georgia fully expanded Medicaid with the federal government absorbing 95% of the tab, the state could cover more than 350,000 of the over 400,000 uninsured people living in Georgia, according to Georgians for a Healthy Future.
“It’s a largely positive step forward,” said Laura Colbert of the advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future. “But there’s a risk that Gov. Kemp and state leaders walk away and leave low-income Georgians with nothing.”
Special enrollment period now open for ACA, could benefit thousands of Georgians without health care
Laura Colbert, the executive director of a non-partisan healthcare organization called Georgians for a Healthy Future, told Wilfon that many Georgians will benefit.
“In Georgia there are about a million and a half uninsured folks, and at least half of those are eligible but un-enrolled in the Affordable Care Act. So we know there are plenty of folks out there who could really benefit from this open enrollment time,” Colbert said.
If it becomes law, the “express lane” bill would allow an estimated 60,000 additional Medicaid-eligible Georgia children to enroll in the joint state-federal health coverage program, according to the nonprofit advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future.
“It’s a largely positive step forward,” said Laura Colbert of the advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future. “But there’s a risk that Gov. Kemp and state leaders walk away and leave low-income Georgians with nothing.”